The Darkness Within
by Streep-Parrilla
Summary: Just as she was about to jump she hears a scratchy voice behind her, sounding so soft, so scared. "Emma, don't do this." Regina.
1. Chapter 1

**I have had this fic in my mind for ages now and I finally wrote it. A big thank you to my twin who helped me with it. You're awesome! I hope you all like it just as much as I do because it holds a special place in my heart. Don't kill me at the end, hahahaha.**

Emma found herself at the edge of the cliff where she killed Cruella. She couldn't take the darkness inside of her anymore. She doesn't want it to get any worse. She won't let her son see her like this or her parents. There's only one person in this town that understands her and not even she can help her right now.

She has everything she ever wanted but she doesn't feel like her life is worth it anymore. _He's my son_ keeps playing over and over in her head and watching Cruella's body go over the cliff. It was then she felt everything change.

She closed her eyes with a tear slipping down her cheek before whispering "I love you, Henry!"

Just as she was about to jump she hears a scratchy voice behind her, sounding so soft, so scared.

"Emma, don't do this." Regina.

"How did you find me?" She asks looking down at the sharp rocks below her feet.

"Because I know what that darkness is doing inside of you. I had that darkness too, Emma. I knew I would find you here because you think you murdered her."

"I did murder her. How can everyone not see that?"

Regina's heart was breaking at the sight in front of her.

"You were protecting our son." She steps forward quietly, hands up, palms out, not moving to touch Emma, but needing to be closer to her. "She was trying to kill him. You did it in self defense. Emma, please step away from there. You don't want to do this."

Emma turns around with red eyes, staring into wide, fearful chocolate ones.

"Why do you care so much? I can't live with this darkness. It'll just get worse. Everyone will get their happy ending if I'm gone." She says, turning back around.

"Emma," Regina's voice cracks on the second syllable. "Don't do this. Think of Henry and your parents. What it would do to them." She pauses, tears threatening to fall, "this is what Gold wants. Do not give him that satisfaction, Emma."

"Henry has you," Emma whispers, eyes on the jagged edge of a smaller cliff, a tree, mangled and sickly looking growing out of its edge.

Regina shakes her head, tears forming on her eyelids. "But he needs his other mom." She looks down at her hands, a tear falling down her cheek. "I need you." It's barely a whisper.

Emma hears it, turns around, eyes wide, stunned. "What? You have Robin. You don't need me."

Regina didn't want it to come down to this but here she is about to confess something she'd always thought she'd bury deep within her heart, "I have realized he's not a part of my happy ending. I don't think he ever was," Regina whispers.

"Then who is?"

A small smile reaches Regina's lips, "You."

Emma's heart pounds fiercely beneath her ribcage. What is happening right now? She's shaking her head and stepping back without thinking "No. You love Robin. I'm not your happy ending."

"Emma. We can talk about this somewhere else. Please, come away from the edge."

Emma can feel her magic going haywire. A blast of white suddenly shoots from her hands, sending Regina into the nearest tree. Her heart is beating wildly in her chest. She hovers her hand over hear heart, crying out when she yanks her heart out. She looks at her half black heart with tears in her eyes. She grunts when she squeezes her heart in her hand. She can't keep living like this. It hurts too much.

Regina makes her way back to Emma who has her heart in hand. She waves her hand, looking at Emma's half blackened heart. Gold will not get what he wants. Henry needs his mother.

Emma is livid and storming forward, "Give it back, Regina." She grits out.

Her whole body is hot and all she wants to do is crush her damn heart. She stands up, looking into sorrowful brown eyes. "Please. Just kill me." Emma pleads.

"Mom?"

Regina whirls around, eyes wide, heart seizing. No.

Henry comes through the shrubbery and looks between the two of them, noticing Emma's heart in his mothers hand. His brow furrows. "Why do you have Emma's heart?"

"Henry," Regina says softly, trying to keep the wobble out of her voice. He doesn't need to see this. He can't see this. "Go back home. You do not need to be here."

"No. I'm not leaving."

She sighs when arguing with her son will get her nowhere. He's as stubborn as both her and Emma and another tear falls down Regina's cheek, looking back over to Emma.

"Is this what you want to leave behind?" She watches as Emma looks between the both of them. "Henry needs you. Don't be selfish and take your own life because it's hard right now. We can help you. I can help you."

Henry finally catches on and he moves forward, brown eyes pleading with emerald, "Mom," his voice cracks, "Don't do this. Please. I need you."

Emma shakes her head, tears freely flowing down her cheeks. She backs up a little.

"Emma," Regina inhales sharply, eyes flickering to the cliff's edge.

Henry looks at the heart in Regina's hand. "Mom. Can't you tell her to walk away from there by talking to her heart?"

Regina looks down at the heart with an open mouth, "Yes. Good job Henry." She looks up at Emma, who is way too close to the edge now. She brings the heart up to her lips but suddenly the cliff starts giving away. It was too late for that.

Emma screams as it gives way from under her. This is what she wanted but she never wanted her son and Regina see her do this.

Regina's eyes widen, yelling Emma's name, running over to the cliff, she sees Emma hanging on a branch looking down at the rocks. Regina drops to her knees, extending her hand as far as it will reach. "Take my hand, Emma."

Emma looks up with tears streaming down her cheeks. There's only one thing on her mind in this moment, "Did you mean it?"

"What?"

Emma grunts when her hands start to loosen, "That I was your happy ending. Did you?"

A tear escapes down the brunettes cheek, smiling, "Yes. I meant every word. Now please take my hand."

The branch she is holding starts snapping, "I never wanted to say anything but I feel the same way. I love you, Regina. But you belong with Robin."

Regina reaches her hand out, crying, "Emma please. Let's go home. You will die if you don't take my hand."

"I know," She looks to her son who is beside Regina, tears streaming down his cheeks, "I love you, Henry."

The branch snaps in half, sending Emma down to the sharp rocks.

Regina screams Emma's name, hand still outstretched as she sees her tumble to the sharp rocks. Both Henry and Regina turn away sobbing.

Regina looks at the still glowing heart in her hand and her heart races as she quickly scrambles to the edge, waving her hand, hoping she's not too late to save the blonde. Her heart beats faster in her chest as she waits.

She looks next to Henry when a cloud of purple smoke appears. Please be alive, her mind chants. She waits to see if she has saved her in time or not.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ahh sorry it took me so long to update guys. Thanks to my best friend for helping me out with this. Also it's not as long as I'd hoped it would be but I hope y'all enjoy it.**

She was going to grab Regina's hand, she was but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She was scared shitless to die like this. Her eyes widened when the branch snapped in two.

The last thing Emma saw was the fear in her son and the woman she loves eyes before she went tumbling towards the sharp rocks below her. To her death. She never thought it would be like this.

Images of her family flooded through her mind. Her parents, her friends, her son, and even Regina. Oh god. Her parents. They spent twenty eight years waiting for her and four more getting to know her and her getting to know them. She can't imagine how much pain they are going to go through losing their daughter again. To death this time.

She let a tear slip thinking of how devastated her family is going to be. How everyone is going to be.

Henry. Her sweet boy without his mother. One of them at least. She never knew love until she was reunited with the son she gave up at birth and then saving his life with true love's kiss. At least she knows Henry will be taken well care of by his other mother and her parents.

An image of Regina smiling flashed through her mind. The last thing she will ever remember. She smiled at the image in her head. She was so madly in love with the woman and she could never tell her until she was hanging from a damn branch. A branch for Christ sake. She will never know what her lips taste like or ever get the chance to say those three words to her again.

She looks down, seeing sharp rocks getting closer and closer. This is it. This is how she's going to die.

She closes her eyes, the image of Regina's smile flashing through her mind again. She smiles, waiting for the inevitable to happen.

"I love you," she whispers into the air.

Everything goes dark.

Emma lays limp on the ground next to a kneeling Henry, eyes wide and full of fear.

"Ma?" His words tremble. _Get up_. His mind keeps chanting over and over.

Regina feels the heart in her hand, fearing she might not see the red glow when she looks. All she can do is stare at Emma's body, hoping and praying that she would groan or move or do whatever to know that she is okay.

It's when Henry is staring at Emma's heart in an olive-toned hand, tears streaming down his face when she decides to look. Her heart pounds in her chest. Her eyes leave Henry, slowly moving her hand to bring the heart into view. She swallows hard, gasping when she sees the heart, her breathing becoming heavy as tears threaten to fall.

There's no glow.

She looks up from the red glowing heart that was no more, staring at Emma's body with wide, tear filled eyes.

"No." She breathes. "No no no." She drops the heart, scrambling towards Emma, falling next to her. She gently lifts her head into her lap, cupping her cheeks. "Emma. Please wake up." Regina begs.

She checks her pulse, (as if the non-glowing heart wasn't enough) shaking her head when Henry waits for her to say something. She stares at Emma's now lifeless face, moving a strand of hair that covered her eye.

"She's gone." She lets a single tear fall down her cheek. She never got to kiss Emma. She never got to do anything with her. Stupid idiot.

"No." He shakes his head, his voice breaking. He takes Emma's cold hand into his own, pulling it up to his chest, laying his head on her chest as uncontrollable sobs rip through him. "This can't be happening." He says through his tears. He can't lose his mother. There has to be a way to get her back. He can't lose her like this.

Regina's heart breaks in two as she watches her son break down. It is the worst thing in the world to see your child go through so much pain. She rests her right hand on top of Henry's head, her left hand coming up to cover her mouth as an unexpected sob ripped through her.

"Oh god," she sobs into her hand. She lets her tears flow freely down her cheeks.

It's like realization suddenly slapped her in the face. It stung like a bitch and tugged at her heart. She's really gone. Nobody is going to see that perfect smile that always made everyone in the room smile. Her perfect laugh that was music to everyone's ears. To Regina's anyway. The hand from her mouth moves to cup Emma's cold cheek.

"Oh Emma." Her voice shakes. The pad of her thumb caresses her cheek. "I love you!" She whispers.

She should have said this sooner and maybe all of this could have been prevented, but instead she's saying it for the first time out loud when the blonde is dead. When she's _dead_ for Christ sake.

Henry's head suddenly snaps up looking into his mother's tear filled eyes, his own eyes filling with hope.

"Mom! True love's kiss. It could work!" He said with so much desperation in his voice. He knew that his mothers loved each other before they even did.

Regina smiled at her son, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Regina looked down at the blonde hoping and praying that this would actually work.

Regina gave Henry a nervous look before she started to bend towards blue lips, swallowing thickly as she was inches away from whatever fate would bring her. Warm lips met cold ones. Henry's heart was pounding. _Please work_ he kept chanting and waiting for his mother to gasp for air.


End file.
